2017 ACC Football: Three impact Coastal Division games in week 3

Which ACC Football Coastal Division games are the biggest of the weekend?

Week one and week two have brought some action around the country, making for a solid start to the college football season.

Both weeks had at least three top 25 matchups, and week three was going to be no different.

However, a hurricane hit the coast of Florida this past weekend leaving the lives of many trying to pick up the pieces.

At the time like that football just doesn’t matter as much. So with that we lose one of those top 25 matchups as Florida State and Miami postponed until October.

Though just because that game is lost does not mean there still isn’t some great football to be played in the two other contests. Let’s start in the SEC where more than bragging rights are in play.

Florida and Tennessee battle in Gainesville this weekend. The winner will be a game up on the other in the SEC east. The Winner also gets to claim bragging rights in the “Third Saturday in September game.”

The Volunteers won last season’s contest ending an 11 game win streak by the Gators. Can they make it two in a for just the second time this century?

The other top 25 match-up takes place in the ACC and is a rematch of one of last season’s best games. Louisville and Clemson will look to take a huge step in the Atlantic division as they face off in Kentucky this weekend.

Last season Clemson held on and won as Louisville wide receiver James Quick stepped out of bounds at the three-yard line, just one yard short of the first down. It was fourth down and the Cardinals were only down six.

If Quick turns the other way, he probably gets the first down and the Tigers and Cardinals might have had completely different seasons.

Will this years contest be just as entertaining?

Of course, you want some nonconference awesomeness, there is also the Texas USC game. The two teams haven’t played since 2005 when Vince Young changed everything with his last second heroics. Think the Trojans have forgotten that game? Think again.

Well, that’s all the major action from a national perspective, which leaves only the three impact games of the ACC Coastal Division.

Oklahoma State at Pittsburgh (Saturday, September 16th @ 12:00 pm)

This is a rematch of a game played last season. The Panthers were 2-0 and looking at National Title implications. The Cowboys were coming off a defeat in which the refs blew a call that cost them the game.

It was tied after three quarters before Oklahoma State won by seven. Will the change in field make a difference this time around?

Things going for the Panthers: The Cowboys schedule. Yes, Oklahoma State is 2-0 and No. 9 overall. However, the Cowboys haven’t really played anybody.

Both their wins did come against FBS schools but a home win over Tulsa and a road win over South Alabama won’t exactly get the CFP committee all gung ho. This will be the Cowboys first real test of the season and that works to Pitt’s favor.

Things going against the Panthers: Mason Rudolph. Last season Rudolph threw for 540 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Pittsburgh. This season he is averaging over 10 yards per attempt while completing over 72 percent of his passes.

Meanwhile, Pitt’s passing defense is allowing over 237 passing yards a game. This looks like a huge favor to the Panthers.

As weak as Oklahoma State’s schedule has looked, at least they are winning games by a large margin. Pitt, on the other hand, has struggled badly. If things continue at this pace, the Cowboys should walk out of Heinz Field 3-0.

North Carolina at Old Dominion (Saturday, September 16th @ 3:30 pm)

This is a rare road trip for a Power five school to a nonpower five school’s campus. It is also the second half of a one and one UNC set up several years ago.

The first time these two teams played in Chapel Hill was 2013. The Tar Heels won that game 80-20. Will things repeat this time around?

Things going for the Tar Heels: Chazz Surratt. In the early goings of the season, Surratt has been the one ray of hope for the Tar Heels. The Southpaw is 30-of-42 for 329 yards and three touchdowns in parts of two games this season.

The only concern here is that he didn’t play the second half against Louisville because of an undisclosed injury. Will he be able to go this week or did the injury reopen the quarterback competition that looked resolved?

Things going against the Tar Heels: Pass Defense. As bad as Pitt’s pass defense has looked, the Tar Heels has looked worse. Unlike past seasons, teams are torching UNC through the air.

The only advantage for UNC is that they are facing a team that likes to run the ball. The Monarchs are averaging only 178 passing yards a game.

This is a game UNC should win. Of course, that could’ve been said about the Cal game as well. If Coach Fedora tries to rotate two quarterbacks again, the Tar Heels could be 0-3. However, if he picks one for the game, they should find their first win of the season.

Baylor at Duke (Saturday, September 16th  @ 12:30 pm)

This is the first of a back to back meeting between the Blue Devils and the Bears. Duke is currently 2-0 with a win over a Power Five squad. Baylor is 0-2 with a loss to an FCS school. Will this even be a game?

Things going for the Blue Devils: The Defense. Duke’s defense is currently third in the ACC and tenth in the nation allowing 175 yards per game. Meanwhile, Baylor’s offense is only averaging 403 yards a game against not very good schools.

Things going against the Blue Devils: High Expectations? Honestly, I struggled to find some reason Duke should be worried about this game. They are clearly the better team and are at home. The only reason they shouldn’t win this game is that they already think they have.

Baylor is the worst team of the Power Five Schools, yes UNC would beat Baylor in a match-up. Duke is firing on all cylinders. Unless Duke doesn’t come to play, this should be a blowout.

One to keep an eye on: Virginia Tech at ECU (Saturday, September 9th @ 3:30 pm)

If Baylor is the worse team in the Power Five, then ECU is the worst team in FBS. The Pirates are 0-2 but have been outscored, 90-34. One of those losses came to the same West Virginia team Virginia Tech beat to open the season.

The game is at ECU, but so was the Pirates 20 point loss to FCS James Madison. The biggest question here is whether or not the NCAA has to introduce a mercy rule.

With the Miami game postponed and the Georgia Tech game canceled, the only other Coastal game is UConn at Virginia. Both teams are not very good, though the winner will be one-third of the way to bowl eligibility, something neither team has seen in a while.

That does it for this weeks’ edition of impact games in the ACC Coastal. Get ready because football is going strong and anything can happen at any time.